For every one of us who had the opportunity to go to the school, children’s day remains a beautiful cherished memory. The day begins with remembering Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, first Prime Minister of Independent India popularly known as ‘Chacha Nehru’ for his love and belief that children are the future of the nation. The program also has students performing numerous cultural activities and it closes with a packet of refreshments, which used to be the key moment of the day. We have been working with girls, young children, persons with disability, and engaging young people in Khushipura village for past 4 years in pursuit of building gender inclusive village. The children’s day provided the perfect opportunity to bring all of them together under one roof to celebrate the social change that we are slowly bringing in the community.
When
we hear words like social change, inclusivity, rural India – suddenly it seems
all serious and grim but that’s not true! The process of social change and
inclusivity can be full of joy and fun and that was exactly our intention for
this community event. The program was conceptualized, discussed and was
finalized by three core team members just 15 days before the decided date. The
design of the program was simple but it involved lot of logistics preparations,
one of the challenging aspects being arranging transport for persons with
disabilities and making sure that they feel included in the activities. So, while
Mona and Purvi finalized the design, communications and logistics management
our third core team member Sarla Devi reached the village a day before to
engage community members on program details, mobilization and arranging safe
transport for PWDs. Initially both of them couldn’t believe that they are
invited to the Children’s day event – both of them have been confined to their
homes for years and they have only interacted with family members except for
Sahas team since last year.
Sarla
Devi, a woman of strong unmatched mantle went home to home visiting girls and
their families including the ones who have stopped coming to the program and
those who for some reason don’t want their girls to go outside their homes.
When she visited the homes of PWDs, there was disbelief in their eyes, but with
her conversation, they became enthusiastic about both the event and meeting
Sahasi Girls. The day closed with each team member briefing about preparations
at their end and joy of what is to come next day.
We
began the celebrations of Children’s day by welcoming our participants with fun
music. Once everyone settled down and sat in the circle (some of our young
participants kept trickling in), we remembered the contribution of Pt.
Jawaharlal Nehru and his love for children. There have been inspiring leaders
who have contributed to independence of India and freedom struggle. In this
world of hate, discrimination, capitalism and war, it becomes our duty to
remember and share the stories and values these leaders (some of who are still
celebrated and many forgotten); they are not just the stories for inspiration
but they help us in questioning and building our own path towards social
change.
In
the next part of the program, the young children joined the art circle with
their coloring books and art supplies, while the girls and persons with
disability formed the music circle. Popularly known as antakshari,
the girls in our village really enjoy singing but its way different that what
city folks know and sing. The entire environment vibrated with the melodious
songs of bhakti, Kabir vani, desh bhakti and girl power –
it was unbelievable symphony of music, solidarity, fun and empowerment. It was
thrilling to watch the real time competition and jugalbandi between the
participants of the music circle, leaving others with unmatched joy!
At
the other corner of the school, young kids were busy with the drawings and
coloring books. Their happiness was skyrocketed when they realized that they
can take the art book and supplies with them. After a while persons with
disabilities also engaged in art. This is how we at Sahas envision our society
to look like where everyone can co-exist, feel safe and respected for who they
are and not what they are expected to be, there is no culture of normal vs not
normal, there is creativity, liberation and solidarity. We have been actively
engaging with the young boy and adolescent girl with disability for over a year
now, and to bring them in this event was no less a feat in itself. Sarla Devi
and Anmol (Teacher at After School program) took time in figuring out transport
very early in the morning, finally finding a battery rickshaw and reached young
boy’s home first. He was already ready, freshly clothed and excited for the
day. However, the girl wasn’t ready simply because she couldn’t believe that
anyone will take time to come to her home and take her to the program. Both of
them sat in the rickshaw holding Sarla’s hand and even later while they sat in
the circle, they gravitated towards her – she somehow became their safe haven amidst
the community event.
We
organized a Kho-Kho match for Sahasi Girls, that saw the fierce fight between
the two teams and with lot of efforts one of the teams led by Renu emerged as
winners. The young kids engaged in octopus race, one of kind race that was
organized for the first time here in the village. This was followed by
felicitation ceremony where the winners of the octopus race was awarded and
celebrated. This time we felicitated Sunita, skill trainer and young woman from
the village who has been teaching two girls sewing and stitching for 3 months.
She is an incredible teacher because of her classes, one of the Sahasi Girls is
on the path of becoming financially independent. She was extremely shy, overwhelmed and
surprised to hear her name. But moments like these remind us of the importance
of appreciation that people around us deserve, it can be so inspiring and
motivating to be valued and awarded for their work.
We
all clapped and cheered the winners and awardees. At the very moment our after
school program teacher arrived with the cakes. Children’s day celebrations are incomplete
without refreshments! With all our programs and workshops, we always ensure
that the participants have refreshments at the end because all of these girls
work really hard at home and field, many times they come to sessions in hurry
without eating much and participating in sessions and conversations about self can
be exhausting. We have had variety of refreshments over the course of 4 years,
be it samosa, food packets, sweets, toffees, fruits or a full lunch but never
cake or pastries. Cake in the village is never heard of and many of these
children have never had one. Anmol brought the cake from nearby town just in
time. Our Sahasi Girls along with team cut the cake and distributed to everyone
along with the chocolates. The curiosity and shine on everyone’s face indicated
that we made the right choice with the cake.
The community event reached its closure with the participants enjoying their slice of cake and curiosity of what was to come in the next days.
It was wonderful to
see how one of the Sahasi Girls helped the persons with disability get on the
car by lifting him effortlessly and with respect. Two young girls stayed with
us to close the school, they were overjoyed to share the car ride with us. All
these small moments coupled with the infectious energy of the children, girls
and rural youth made the Children’s day even more memorable to us at Sahas.
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